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Gates McFadden
| Place of birth = Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA | Roles = Actor, Director, Choreographer | Characters = Beverly Crusher | image2 = Beverly Crusher 2367.jpg }} Cheryl Gates McFadden has portrayed Beverly Crusher, MD, in most episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and in four ''Star Trek'' films. McFadden also directed the TNG episode and choreographed the dance routine in . McFadden left the series during the second season, replaced by Diana Muldaur as Doctor Katherine Pulaski. Officially, the producers felt that the character of Crusher had not developed as well as they had hoped. Unofficially, there were some disagreements between the show's producers and McFadden as to how the character should develop, which may have led to some bad blood between her and several executive producers, resulting in McFadden's being released from her contract before the second season. But thanks to a letter-writing campaign, support from Patrick Stewart, and a personal invitation from Rick Berman, McFadden was brought back to the TNG cast for the third and subsequent seasons. McFadden was absent for all episodes of the second season and only appeared in stock footage in which was used from the first season episodes and . During her break from Star Trek, McFadden played Cathy Ryan (coincidentally another doctor with a husband named Jack) in the movie , although most of her scenes were edited from the film. McFadden became pregnant with her first child during the fourth season of TNG, learning of the pregnancy only days after performing her own stunts for the episode . This explains her absence during the last part of the season. Although the directors were able to hide her pregnancy behind objects and Crusher's trademark lab coat, it was briefly visible in some episodes, including . Her son was born over hiatus; Brent Spiner is his godfather. McFadden has been quoted as saying her son grew up on the bridge of the , and he was upset when the sets were torn down following . Gates McFadden is an accomplished dancer and puppeteer; she worked on several Jim Henson productions as a choreographer, most notably in the film Labyrinth (she also choreographed movement for The Dark Crystal, and made her film acting debut in The Muppets Take Manhattan). She prefers stage roles to television, and has been seen in countless productions over her career. She is trained in stage swordfighting; ironically, only she and Marina Sirtis were trained in the technique which was featured in but only the male characters were allowed to use swords. In 1992, McFadden appeared alongside fellow castmembers Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, and Colm Meaney in a production of " ," which was performed in four cities. In 2011, McFadden also appeared in the drama-comedy television series Franklin and Bash, along with Clayton Landey, Robert Pine, Jason Alexander, Geoffrey Blake, Patrick Fischler, David Gautreaux, J. Patrick McCormack, Mark L. Taylor, Ivar Brogger, John de Lancie and Malcolm McDowell. Trivia * Ensign Gates, the conn officer played by Joyce Robinson and seen throughout the third til seventh season, was named for her. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion) * McFadden starred in the short-lived drama Marker, which was one of the pilot series on UPN alongside Star Trek: Voyager. * McFadden's birth date is somewhat unclear; official promotional material from Paramount Pictures lists her birthday as August 28, 1953 while the IMDb lists it as March 2, 1949. Public records indicate that a "Cheryl G. McFadden" was born in 1949 and McFadden has admitted that she makes up dates since she is uncomfortable with revealing her true birth date. Given that she graduated from Brandeis in 1970, it is likely that she was born before 1953. * She stars in the Microsoft People Ready Business commercials aired on television * McFadden was disappointed by Crusher's lack of screen time, especially during the movies. There were rumors floating around before began filming that stated she would not return. Additional characters File:Beverly Crusher beta renner cloud.jpg|Beverly Crusher under the influence of the Beta Renner cloud File:Crusher, Barclay program 15.jpg|Beverly Crusher (hologram, Barclay Program 15) File:Beverly Crusher hologram.jpg|Beverly Crusher (hologram) File:Beverly Crusher, 2383.jpg|Beverly Crusher (holographic duplicate) File:Crusher hologram2369.jpg|Beverly Crusher (hologram) File:Riker straw.jpg|Beverly Crusher (illusion) Appearances on Star Trek *''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' **Season One **Season Two: (archive footage from "Symbiosis" and "Skin of Evil") **Season Three to Season Seven :(all episodes except ) * (1994) * (1996) * (1998) * (2002) Star Trek interviews McFadden was interviewed for the following Star Trek specials: * TNG Season 1 DVD special feature "The Beginning" * TNG Season 1 DVD special feature "Selected Crew Analysis" * TNG Season 3 DVD special feature "Mission Overview Year Three" ("The Doctor Returns"), interviewed on * TNG Season 3 DVD special feature "Selected Crew Analysis Year Three" ("Crew Profile: Beverly and Wesley Crusher"), interviewed on 27 September 1989 External links * * * - pictures, sound clips and trivia de:Gates McFadden es:Gates McFadden fr:Gates McFadden nl:Gates McFadden pl:Gates McFadden sv:Gates McFadden McFadden, Gates McFadden, Gates McFadden, Gates McFadden, Gates